Referendum countdown: VIDEO - ‘Positive message’ is paying dividends

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Published:23:43Saturday 13 September 2014

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First Minister Alex Salmond says a ‘‘positive message’’ is driving the Yes campaign to victory.

He believes this side has the momentum despite a new poll which puts the No camp narrowly in the lead.

Salmond believes Yes have the momentum

When undecided voters are factored out, 54 per cent plan to vote No while 46 per cent intend to say Yes, according to a Survation poll commissioned by Better Together and carried out between September 10 and 12.

Blair McDougall, campaign director of Better Together, said: ‘’This poll suggests that No are in the lead but that the race is far from over. No-one can afford a protest vote.

“Any one of us could cast the vote that makes the difference between the UK staying together or breaking apart.”

A Yes Scotland spokesman said: ‘’This poll records support for Yes at 46.5%, and an ICM poll conducted around the same time put Yes at 49%. There is everything to play for, and this will spur on everybody who wants and is working hard for a Yes to redouble their efforts.”

An upbeat Mr Salmond said: “What matters is what’s happening in the streets and communities around Scotland, the Yes side has the momentum and that’s going to carry us through next Thursday and that’s because we’ve got a positive message, we want to build a more prosperous economy and a fairer society, and there’s no scare story that the No campaign can mobilise which competes with that positive vision for the future of Scotland.”

The First Minister also said it would be a ‘’day of celebration’’ if Scotland votes Yes and not a ‘’day of reckoning’’ for the big companies drawn into the debate as claimed by a former SNP deputy leader.

Jim Sillars, widower of nationalist Margo MacDonald, drew criticism after he said there would be ‘’a day of reckoning with BP and the banks’’ if Scotland’s people vote Yes.

Mr Salmond said: “I think following a Yes vote there will be a day of celebration and then we’ll get down to the hard work of binding Scotland together, because once we get to Friday we cease to have a ‘Team No’ and a ‘Team Yes’ and we have a ‘Team Scotland’ who’ll be doing their best for the people of Scotland and the people of the rest of the United Kingdom, and that good will extends across the political spectrum and even to those companies who’ve been pressurised by Downing Street into attempting to scaremonger the Scottish people over the last few days.”